The case of a York University student who asked to be excused from group work with women for religious reasons is believed to be a first for Canada’s ivory tower — and experts say that with an increasingly diverse population, more of these controversies will arise.

Sociology professor Paul Grayson wanted to deny the student’s request for the online course, but first asked the faculty dean and university’s human rights centre, who said he should grant the request.

In the end — after fellow professors in the department agreed such a move would marginalize females — Grayson denied the request. The student relented and completed the required work with the women in his group.

“This situation has never arisen before (at York),” said Grayson, who doesn’t believe he will be disciplined for refusing the university’s order. “To my knowledge, this is the first time in Canada this kind of case has emerged.”

Rhonda Lenton, York’s provost and vice president academic, said each request for accommodation is reviewed based on its own merits. She said a deciding factor in this case was that it was an online course where another student had previously been given permission to complete the course requirement off-campus.

“Ultimately, a satisfactory agreement was reached between the professor and the student,” Lenton said in a statement Thursday. “Nevertheless, the broader issue of religious accommodations in secular universities remains an important societal concern that warrants further discussion.”

While it is not unheard of for students’ religious beliefs to clash with the secular values in public schools — from Ontario Catholic schools being forced to let students form gay-straight alliances, to criticisms of a Toronto middle school that allows its Muslim students to hold Friday prayers in the school cafeteria, with girls seated behind the boys — such controversies are rare in higher learning.

Debate on how York handled this situation has exploded online, with accusations of sexism. Overseas universities are also grappling with the issue of competing human rights.

Just last month, British Prime Minister David Cameron personally intervened, forcing universities there to put a stop to sex-segregated seating for lectures by visiting Islamic scholars.

A Mormon theatre student at the University of Utah tried to sue the school 10 years ago for asking her to say the swear words in a script being used for a drama assignment.

Here in Ontario, in 2007, a Muslim art major at Western University failed a senior-level drawing class for refusing to sketch nudes, a key part of the course for which officials said they also received complaints from some conservative Christian students.

Several years ago, York University came under fire for its longstanding practice of cancelling classes for three days each fall on Jewish holidays. With the growing diversity of the student body, a professor complained to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. But before it had time to rule, York scrapped the practice in 2009 and launched a fall reading week instead.

The law school at the University of Windsor was the only other program at a secular university that closed on Jewish holidays, and it ended the practice at the same time.

“The big thing for educators to understand — and the general population needs to understand — is that no one right is absolute,” he said. “Each agency needs to look at each case, and make the best accommodation.”

While the York student’s religion has not been made public, Grayson had consulted one Judaic and two Islamic scholars, and all three said there was no issue with males and females interacting in public.

Grayson said York’s position “tacitly accepted a negative definition of females” that can’t be tolerated at a school where a majority of students are female.

“The thing is, if someone thinks they can have a concession, why not ask for it? … It’s like a student asking for an extension. If I say no, they are going to live with it,” he said. “I think (York) got itself into trouble, (thinking) if someone says the word ‘religion’ we have to comply, immediately.”

Professor Paul Grayson will take your questions on this issue Friday at 11 a.m. in a live webchat on www.thestar.com — send in your questions, and education reporter Kristin Rushowy will moderate the discussion for the hour.

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